Old Mac, New at Brooklyn Label

Brooklyn Label
180 Franklin Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 389-2806
brooklynlabel.com

Okay, so it's been on the menu for a couple months now, but this is the first I've had of it so it's new to me. The Basil Mac, of course, was entirely satisfactory, so I harbored no illusions that the Old Mac wouldn't follow suit. Indeed, gruyere, cheddar and parmesan cheeses compose the dish nicely. This is comfort food, simple enough.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: You'd think we could take this for granted by now.

S'MAC'd!

Sarita's Macaroni & Cheese

a.k.a. S'MAC
345 E. 12th StreetNew York, NY 10003212-358-7912
www.smacnyc.com

NEW YORK HAS long been known for it's single-minded institutions: Grimaldi's has its pizza, Katz's its corned beef, Izzy Guss' had its pickles. Following in those footsteps, and narrowing the path to a considerable degree, recent NYC entries have popped up displaying not only that same kind of specialty prowess, but ever more singular ones at that. The East Village and Lower East Side alone boast shops hawking cheesecake, dumplings, and rice pudding, respectively (the grilled cheese shop, sadly, didn't last).

The one that has called to me since the sweet rumors of its existence first kissed my ears is S'MAC, a.k.a "the macaroni n' cheese place." Technically, of course, it is Sarita's Macaroni & Cheese, but from its very opening has been hailed as delicious. It's a small miracle I have not begun living in a tent outside its front doors (for the love of Manchego, the place has a "happy hour," Monday though Thursday, from 3-5 p.m.). Technically, I have yet to eat there.

I qualify this because in addition to S'mac's extensive list of macs (which includes a Manchego MAC with fennel and shallots, and a Brie MAC with shitake mushrooms, roasted figs and rosemary) the kitchen sells Bake Ready MACs, ready to carry home and bring to oozy, gooey life in your very own oven. It was such a Bake Ready MAC that Mint carried home with her Thursday night. I've been saving it. Until this afternoon.

S'mac before; S'mac after

Incredible! This stuff is macaroni n' cheese perfection, there's really no way around it. Unlike lots of other kitchen creations, it's not inherently superior products or four-star culinary prowess that guarantees mac n' cheese sublimity, but rather it's an elusive, home-cooked je ne sais quoi that resonates from the pasta's cheesy, bubbling soul. S'mac has it, was founded on it, and they'll even teach you to make it for yourself. Of course, I might be blinded by my lust. But I'm okay with that.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Correct.

Siggy's Good Food? Nope, It's Great!

Relish
225 Wythe Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 963-4546
www.relish.com

Siggy's Good Food
76 Henry Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 237-3199

HARD TO BELIEVE my first trip to Relish in quite some time would be overshadowed by a hole-in-the-wall organic kitchen in downtown Brooklyn, but that's the truth, people. And that's not to say the always-impeccable Relish wasn't up to expectations--Siggy's just flat out surprised us.

The Relish trip was decided-upon quite by accident. Jane, visiting for a birthday weekend, had only two simple requests for brunch: to sit outside and order off a menu that didn't bestow ridiculous names on its food. Is there a better Williamsburg option meeting that pair of demands? I think not. So, much to the chagrin of Mint who was working on a her usual day off, Sunday, it was off to the depths of Wythe Avenue.

Sunday brunch is better in the backyard at Relish

The beauty of Relish is always its menu of simple, delicious fare presented without pretense in neighborhood that quite literally thrives on pretense. My huevos rancheros were excellently cooked and the tortillas below still crunchy, somehow entirely unaffected by the pile of rice and beans piled upon them; the side of veggie sausage, while tasty, could certainly have been of larger quantity. Meanwhile, Jane was much pleased with her chicken sandwich. Best of all, though, was the towering Bloody Mary I received from the bar, thick, just a touch too spicy, and refreshingly cold on a warm afternoon.

After a visit to see Steph tending bar up at Dive 75 on a suspiciously slow Sunday, and after a game of Scrabble, quite a few bowls of chocolate candy, and a remarkable comeback by the US to dispatch Mexico 2-1 and win the Gold Cup, Jane set off across Central Park to find her way back to Murray Hill, while I set off to take the 2 train back into Brooklyn.

Meeting Mint off Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, we surveyed our usual options and decided, instead, to set off down Henry Street in search of something different. We came across Siggy's Good Food and were coxed inside by the adorable gray cat standing sentinel outside in spite of our apprehensions about Siggy's cozy, non-air conditioned interior.

Siggy's was refreshing nonetheless, a bottle of beer and fresh ginger-mint lemonade for Mint and I saw to that. The food, best of all, was not your typical vegan/vegetarian variety, as we had feared, focusing on organic offerings prepared with infinitely more touch and experience than many like-minded establishments. Mint's tofu, broccoli and soba noodles in Szechuan sauce, an overdone staple at many veggie friendly joints, was remarkably light, with all the flavor of soy sauce and spices without becoming too salty or overpowering the tofu, which was cooked very, very well.

Spotting macaroni and cheese on the menu I could do little else but order it, and so also chose a lentil garlic soup to start. The soup was wonderful, no real surprises, but the macaroni and cheese had to be the best I've ordered out anywhere in the City. Whole grain spelt pasta was an excellent, hearty choice paired with the tangy, organic blend of cheeses, and together the duo was gooey, sticky, satisfying, or try this: everything you look for in comfort food. Though, while at $6.95 (technically, it's a starter dish) the mac n' cheese is a pretty great value, I'm fairly sure its nutritionally void. You win some, you lose some.

Don't that just look delicious?

So, sorry, Relish, but you got shown up by some creative kids downtown. It's not that the food there was better, it was just that much more unexpected. When the stellar becomes status quo, surprises are just that much more surprising. Anyways, Mint is anxious for her first visit to your shimmery dining car quarters, so, no worries, you'll get your chance to shine for MEF! some evening soon. You just better hope we don't first go to Siggy's for brunch.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Absolutely, on both counts.

Today in Blogs: An Ode to Mac n' Cheese

UPON HEARING ABOUT this little venture, both Elissa and Jenny mentioned to me the existence of a blog of similar food nature--Not Eating Out In NY. I checked it out, was quite impressed, and decided that it would be the topic of a future post. Until I happened to glance at it this morning to find Cathy from Not Eating Out, in her infinite wisdom, had posted a recipe for spicy macaroni and cheese, whereupon it was decided that Not Eating Out would be the topic of today's post.

The only "mac n' cheese" in my apartment at present

I used feel about french toast the same way I presently feel about macaroni and cheese: I love it. I love the idea of it. I want to have, like, ten thousand of its babies. I don't know what happened to french toast in my mind, but I suspect that the sheer overabundance of it took some of the thrill out of my search. Unlike french toast, with is fairly ubiquitous at any diner or brunch spot in the city, macaroni and cheese is not the type of menu item that gets a lot of attention. I suspect it's just too annoying to make in a commercial kitchen, too hard to perfect, and perhaps just not cost effective enough to make it worth the while, but I balk at all these explanations. Honestly, I think people have just grown out of it.

In addition (and Not Eating Out makes a grand point of this in totaling the price of her creation at $6.57), no one wants to spend $10-plus on mac n' cheese. It's macaroni. And cheese. As any hungover college student knows, Easy Mac costs approximately $0.10 per gallon. If we go gourmet and, let's say, you put noodles and cheese in a pan and stick it in the oven, that same hungover college student will declare it a four-star meal and you still haven't spent more than $7. Yet, if you find mac n' cheese on any menu in this city, I defy you to pay less than $11 to have it brought to you.

Like french toast, you run a risk in searching for mac n' cheese that, when you find it, it might be as awe-inspiringly amazing as you had hoped, or as bland and clearly just-thawed-out as you feared. Which is why making your own seems the best solution--if you want it done right, do it yourself. I will admit I have not made mac n' cheese in a very, very long time, but this recipe stirs something inside me, something more than my secret vegetarian desire for chorizo. This mac... it will be made.

Mint and the Exploding Ketchup

Anytime
93 N. 6th Street
(b/t Berry & Wythe Sts.)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 218-7272

FIRST OF ALL it should be noted that Anytime is not really available at any time. During the week, Anytime is only open from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. (or to 4 a.m. on Thurs-Sat), and on Saturday and Sunday it's open at 11 a.m., but closes from 4-6 p.m., and then on Sunday closes at 2 a.m. Confused? Try this method: save the number in your phone. Call when you want food. If no one answers, it's closed.

[06/07: A recent peek at Anytime's website lists these restaurant hours: Sun-Thurs, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Fri-Sat, 6 p.m. to 4 a.m.; and delivery is apparently available Mon-Sun, 4 p.m. to 5 a.m. Good luck with that.]

I came home late last night after a shoot. Mint had taken the luxury of ordering us dinner, which was fantastic. A plain hamburger for her, a veggie burger for me (which, yes, makes two in two days for me, if you were keeping score at home), and perfect opportunities to use that Brooklyn Label ketchup we talked about a few posts back.

The bottle threatens.

So, imagine if you can the two of us sitting on a couch. I'm sitting to Mint's right, both of us with burgers on our laps, me enjoying my side order of mac n' cheese and Mint grabbing onto the bottle of ketchup... twisting the cap, and...

FSSSSSPPPTHHHHHHHH!

I'm not sure which I noticed first--the blur of red that flashed everywhere in front of me or the sensation of ketchup splattering against my entire body. I kept my head down for a second. I guess I figured shrapnel was likely to come next. When I did lift my head, Mint was starting at me with unblinking eyes at which point we proceeded from stunned silence to laughter.

I have to figure that if someone had been shot in the face and spun around in a circle on my couch, it would have to look fairly similar to what we were now seeing save, of course, for the absence of someone who had been just shot in the face. Ketchup was everywhere. On our shirts, jeans, faces, hair; on the couch, the walls, the floors, the television, pillows and blankets. I've seen Law & Order episodes with cleaner victims than the two of us.

And so I ask Brooklyn Label: what the hell do you put in your ketchup?

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Yes, just hold the ketchup over the sink and cover it with a towel.

Spring Break, Part VI: Skully's Music vs. Diner

Skully's Music Diner
1151 N. High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43201
(614) 291-8856
www.skullys.org

SKULLY'S MUSIC DINER is one of those places that wasn't around until after I left Columbus some seven years ago. Sitting on High Street between downtown and the campus of Ohio State University, I've passed it by on several visits but never stopped in. I knew it was a club by night, but, discovering they also served breakfast after noon, we figured we'd give it a try this morning.

This brings up a pretty good rule that is appropriately mentioned right now: eating food at any music venue should be done with great caution. Alcoholic, grumbling, dirty road-bound rockers and food preparation really don't mix (though, The Cake Shop on New York's Lower East Side, however, immediately strikes me as an exception to this rule.) Fortunately, or not, we were hungry enough to not care.

We immediately ruined our breakfast plans by ordering fried mac n' cheese bites as an appetizer. They were, of course, disgusting, but amazing in their orange, gooey grossness. Had we been hungover, they would have been the stuff of legends. They were followed by a rather bland breakfast burrito for me and an order of steak and eggs for Mint that showed up looking remarkably classy--a huge cut of good-looking beef with two over-easy eggs (the dish comes with an absolutely unnecessary three, and she wisely requested one less.)

In the end, we would have had a more all-around satisfactory meal at any hole-in-the-wall diner, but then again Mint certainly isn't complaining about her steak and eggs. So, I'll leave this one up to someone else.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Porbably not, unless Mint tells him to.

Spring Break, Part II: Always Time for Jell-O

D&R Depot
63 Lake Street (Rt. 19)
LeRoy, NY 14482
(585) 768-6270
www.dandrdepot.com

THE D&R DEPOT is quite possibly the reason I wanted to drive through upstate New York en route to Ohio.
In fact, my mother and I likely hatched our crackpot scheme of meeting in Syracuse and crashing in Batavia before heading to Youngstown for this purpose alone. Or, at least, I did.

Once upon a time, two friends and I set out to produce our first ever documentary on the history of Jell-O. This delivered us to LeRoy, NY, just over an hour west of Rochester, where the dessert was born, and where we spent many of our weekends working on the project. When we got hungry, we asked around for a good place to find lunch. The answers, if I remember correctly, were unanimous.

The D&R menu is made up of American favorites. You really can't go wrong. I believe I lived several months of my life eating their mac n' cheese every weekend. I turned out fine. Being too early in the morning for mac n' cheese (though I debated ordering some to take with us), my mom and I settled on breakfast. We had two kinds of French toast: one crispy, battered with corn flakes, and the other sweet, with coconut stuck to all sides. Both amazing.

Paying homage to dessert

Afterwards, like any good visitor to LeRoy, we went to the Jell-O Museum. From there we headed west, stopping briefly in Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio to walk on the frozen shores of Lake Erie before turning south towards Warren, and home.

On ice, forty feet out in Lake Erie, a.k.a. "a terrible idea"

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Any time I have to drive across I-90. And even a few times I might make up the reason to do so.